Jarvis Hall

Students interested in combating social injustices now have an organization to help them achieve their goal — the Institute for Civic Engagement and Social Change.

The Institute became an officially recognized campus organization last April.

Its mission is to increase student awareness of local, national and international social problems and to increase student involvement in the political process through voting and civic engagement.

“A lot of people walk around living unexamined lives,” said senior Germaine Austin, president of the Civic Engagement Task Force.

“They view decisions made in politics as things that should transpire like they have no control,” Austin said. “When in fact their voices are the most powerful tool to hold government officials accountable [and] promote social changes.”

According to the Institute’s planning document, North Carolina’s youth are politically uninvolved and ignorant of government affairs, practices and staffing. For example, the document says, less than 10 percent correctly named both their U.S. senators.

The document also mentions the fact that people between the ages of 18 and 29, especially African-Americans and Latinos within that age group, have low voter participation levels.

“I think that many students feel very alienated from the process,” said Jarvis Hall, director of the Institute.

“They feel as if their participation doesn’t really make a difference, but we have discovered that they are concerned with social issues through surveys we have conducted from the Institute,” Hall said.

Hall is seeking $600,000 in grants over a three-year period to establish a survey research center. Part of the grant will be used for staffing and supplying the center.

Graduate and undergraduate students from university departments and schools will work with researchers to conduct individual research projects, produce an annual journal about civic engagement and public policy issues, and sponsor forums for N.C. Central University students and the community at large.

Over the past three years, the Institute and the Civic Engagement Task Force has received approximately $55,000 in grants from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation as well as mini-grant administered by the Provost’s Office.

The money has financed voter registration drives and voter education. It has also financed sending students to conferences on civic engagement, and the start-up of the Institute.

The Civic Engagement Task Force, which was formed before the Institute, increased student voter turnout in the 2004 election.

Task force members visited every building on campus to register students to vote, posted fliers and billboards around campus containing candidate platform information and backgrounds, and publicized their activities via e-mail.

They also went door to door in the community to inform citizens about the election and offered community members transportation to the polls.

As a result, the task force and other student organizations registered 1,000 voters on campus, approximately 85 percent of whom voted.

The task force is committed to increasing the number of students and community members voting in the 2008 elections.

Students who would like to become involved can contact Jarvis Hall at 530-7256 for further information.

All are welcome to attend Civic Engagement Task Force meetings during the 10:40 breaks on Tuesdays and Thursdays in room 105 of the Edmonds Building. Participation in the Institute will count toward community service hours.